Worries
by strawberryzoros
Summary: "You worry too much, Oishi." Kikumaru notices how stressed Oishi has been lately, and decides to take matters into his own hands. Oishi/Kikumaru.


**Worries**

**Oishi/Kikumaru. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Not even Oishi's green tea toothpaste.**

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><p>On the night before the Kantou Tournament finals, Eiji insisted on following Oishi home after they had finished their doubles practice. He wouldn't take no for an answer. Oishi had long ago accepted that he couldn't deny Eiji anything – whether it was to use his green tea toothpaste or about something more serious like tennis – so he simply let the redhead have his way.<p>

Once they were in his room, Eiji locked the door and turned off the ceiling lamp. Oishi was about to question it, but what he saw when he looked at Eiji shut him up. His partner's eyes were practically _glowing_ in the semi-darkness, and his stance oddly reminded Oishi of a cat ready to pounce.

"Oishi, this ends right here," Eiji said, voice firm. "I won't let you out of this room until you stop!"

"W-wha…?" Oishi stammered, startled and more than a little confused.

Eiji walked over, forcing him backwards until the backs of his knees hit the bed. His partner pushed him down on hit and straddled his hips. Oishi couldn't think of anything to say—the redhead's weight was effectively trapping him, but even more so was the ferocity in his eyes.

Then it softened, and Eiji's hand touched his cheek. "You worry too much, Oishi."

Oishi let out a slow breath, but stayed silent as Eiji continued.

"Don't think I haven't noticed. You're worrying about _everything_. The temporary captain thing, our practices, the line-up, Tezuka's absence, your studies, old injuries. I know it. Your mind goes like this—" Eiji waved his finger in front of Oishi's face to illustrate, fast enough that his movements blurred together, "—and it never stops. You look like you haven't slept in _ages_!"

Eiji's finger stilled, and he cupped Oishi's face with a sigh. "This ends here and now. You need to _relax_, Oishi. And as you won't do it, we're going to do it my way. No protests!"

Still taken aback, and quite a bit touched, Oishi didn't know what to say. Somehow though, he realized that words were superfluous at this point. As talkative as Eiji was known to be, he was also a man of action. Once he knew what he wanted, he'd go right ahead and make it happen. He didn't need Oishi's _words_ to make him pull through with it. Non-verbal was sufficient enough. That's how he'd been ever since they first met – both inside and outside their relationship.

"Now take off your shirt, Oishi." He did, after only a moment of hesitation.

Eiji kissed his forehead in an unexpectedly tender gesture, and then flipped them over so he could straddle the area of his lower back with Oishi lying on his stomach. Oishi felt his hands, firm and sure, as they slowly kneaded his back in the start of an impromptu massage. Without intending to, he groaned as Eiji started to work out the tension he hadn't even realized was there.

"Just close your eyes and let me take care of you, Oishi," Eiji said, his voice a quiet purr.

It was a good massage—great, even. No surprise there, as Oishi had been the one to teach him how to do it in the first place. He'd picked it up from his uncle, figuring it was a useful skill to acquire in their field. Being the fast learner he was, the redhead had caught the gist of it in no time at all.

Eiji systematically worked out every knot in his shoulders, every tense area of his back. He paid special attention to the back of his neck, even going as far as rubbing his scalp, and Oishi's eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head. He felt like he hadn't felt at ease like this in weeks, which wasn't that far from the truth. Once Eiji had worked out the tension, he followed it up with light kisses littered across his shoulders, the side of his neck, along the length of his spine. Oishi shivered.

When he was done, he carefully lifted himself so Oishi could turn on his back. Oishi looked up through half-lidded eyes, enjoying the little grin that lit up Eiji's face. Eiji nodded, as if confirming something to himself, and slid his hands up Oishi's arms, running them in a slow circles until he reached his hands. Keeping Oishi's hands in a firm hold, Eiji then proceeded to continue with the light kisses, this time to cover his neck and chest area, all the way up to his ears, before finishing with his face.

Oishi had closed his eyes again at this point, basking in the feeling of those soft lips on his skin. The butterflies fluttered somewhere in his chest as he felt that familiar stir in his lower body, even more so as Eiji turned his attention to his lips. He started to kiss him back, but Eiji was adamant about controlling the pace, so Oishi settled for simply following his lead. Relinquishing control was rare for him, but at this point even Oishi knew that he was putty in his partner's hands.

Eiji kissed him slowly, over and over, deeper and longer each time. Oishi's head was mush, he couldn't think past those lips, that warm tongue, the taste of Eiji, when the redhead suddenly pulled back. Oishi's eyes flew open, staring questioningly at the other as he tried to catch his breath.

"Are you relaxing now?" Eiji asked through tiny puffs of breath.

With a slight start, Oishi realized that he really was. He felt relaxed… among other things. But the tension that was currently starting to take over his body was a whole different kind of tension; the good kind. He had allowed himself to lose himself in Eiji, and it had worked.

He could feel Eiji's triumphant grin even without looking at him. Then, just as Oishi had started to contemplate whether he should pull the redhead back to him and continue where they left off, his partner slumped down on top of him. Eiji hugged himself close, resting his head on his chest, and looked up at him with the most endearingly innocent look on his face.

So innocent that it made Oishi feel like a dirty old man for thinking what he'd done only seconds before. Kikumaru Eiji, the unofficial world champion in switching moods without warning.

"Now you're going to tell me. About everything that's been bothering you, Oishi. Because we're going to work this through between the two of us so you can let it go, and you'll be okay. Capish?"

There was that warmth flaring up in his chest again. Oishi looked down at his partner – the energetic, attention-craving, talking-a-mile-a-minute redhead that he often thought of as his other half – and considered the situation. Eiji had taken care of his physical needs first, and was now moving on to his mental needs. It was unlike him, and at the same time strangely fitting somehow.

So Oishi started to talk, getting everything off his chest until the only thing that was left on there was the person who literally lay on it. And Eiji listened, perfectly patient, and provided commentary whenever it was needed until everything felt like it should again in Oishi's world.

Then, when Oishi's list of worries had grown thin and his voice suitably tired, Eiji went back to the kissing and caressing. One thing led to another, and soon they were finishing what they had started earlier in the night. That kind of tension relief was important too, Eiji reminded him.

And later that night, when they were finally drifting off to sleep, Oishi felt better than he had ever done since Tezuka left. Hearing the soft snores from the person cradled in his arms, he couldn't help but smile. It never ceased to amaze him how Eiji continuously went out of his way to make him better. Sometimes it didn't go as planned, sometimes it had the opposite effect, but sometimes, like tonight, it worked just right. Tonight his burden had been lifted, his worries addressed, and all of his stress dealt with. For the first time, Oishi's main concern was simply to get some sleep.

It was the most incredible feeling.


End file.
